Finding identity in design

IN THIS TOGETHER: Emily Rye, left, and Jane Androski co-own Design Agency, which is a go-to design studio for nonprofits working in the areas of education, arts and culture. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO
IN THIS TOGETHER: Emily Rye, left, and Jane Androski co-own Design Agency, which is a go-to design studio for nonprofits working in the areas of education, arts and culture. / PBN PHOTO/MICHAEL SALERNO

From best friends to business partners, Jane Androski and Emily Rye have carefully pieced together a model at Design Agency aligning work with their way of life.

The duo first met while studying for their master’s degrees at Rhode Island School of Design and after fostering a friendship they began working on a joint thesis, focusing largely on the empowerment of community. Defending a thesis forced the pair together for long periods of time, but after finishing they found their friendship undamaged.

“Finding out that you can spend a lot of hours every day with your best friend working and then still feel like spending time with them – that was big,” Androski said.

Androski and Rye took the momentum they found at RISD and in 2011 started Design Agency – a business they wanted to be as much about design as it is about identity. And wanting to stay true to their own ideals, their business approach from the get-go was to never take work they wouldn’t put in their portfolios.

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“We were careful about the clients we took on because we wanted them to be a good demonstration of [us], so we said no to a lot of projects in the beginning and it has paid off,” Androski said.

Indeed, the strategy, albeit different, appears to have paid off in the long run and the owners now feel like Design Agency is a go-to company for nonprofits working in the areas of education, arts and culture. And, perhaps more importantly, their personal brand remains intact.

“We rarely get asked to do design work that doesn’t fit into our way of working,” Androski added.

Right now, the duo say they have as much work as they can handle, and it’s the type of projects they enjoy. Primarily working with nonprofits, educational programs, community-based organizations and small businesses, Rye says their philosophy in developing sustainable relationships with clients has proven worthy of their time and effort.

“We get invited to staff parties,” she said, laughingly.

Design Agency’s client list is made up of organizations that include New Urban Arts, Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, Partnership for Success, Arts Worcester and several others. Their services range anywhere from developing websites to climbing 12-foot ladders to paint company signs.

“We know what our potential is as two people that own a small business,” Androski said. “At any given time over the course of a year, we’re very clear about that.”

Rye says the basic idea is to be an in-house communication department for organizations that don’t have the budget to do it themselves. But in the spirit of empowerment, they teach and leave behind the skill-sets necessary for organizations to continue the work themselves.

Androski and Rye both say they’re content for now working and learning together.

“We’re both our own bosses, but we’re also best friends, and there’s something challenging and rewarding about working with ourselves,” Androski said. •

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